Suicide bombers bring death and chaos to Basra

Page Tools

Iraqis mill around the scene of one of four bomb attacks in and around Basra.Picture:Reuters

Suicide bombers killed at least 68 people, many of them children, in co-ordinated strikes on four police stations that brought bloody chaos to Iraq's southern city of Basra yesterday.

Near-simultaneous explosions hit three police stations in Basra and one in the town of Zubair, 25 kilometres south of the mainly Shiite city, the British military said.

"All four attacks seem to have been carried out by suicide bombers," said a British Defence Ministry spokeswoman in Basra.

Reuters counted 55 bodies at one hospital. Among the dead were many children who had been going to school in a minibus caught in one of the car bombings. About 200 civilians and police were wounded.

A morgue attendant said 39 bodies had been identified while at least 16 other bodies were burnt beyond recognition.

A wounded Iraqi, Amin Dinar, said he had heard a huge explosion as he stood at the door of his house.

"I looked around and saw my leg bleeding and my neighbour lying dead on the floor, torn apart," he said from his hospital bed. "I saw a minibus full of children on fire - 15 of the 18 passengers were killed and three badly wounded."

AdvertisementAdvertisement

A British military spokesman said there had been three explosions at Basra police stations at 7.15 am.

Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority, which in Basra is British-led, vowed to pursue those behind "these despicable attacks". A statement said: "This was an attack on all of us and, more importantly, on the population of Basra. We will hunt down those responsible for these terrible attacks."

North of Baghdad, US-backed Iraqi soldiers killed four insurgents and seized three explosive-laden cars in an overnight swoop, an Iraqi officer in Kirkuk said.

Major-General Anwar Amin said Iraq Civil Defence Corps forces attacked the hideout 130 kilometres south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk after receiving a tip-off.

A police car damaged in one of the explosions.Picture:Reuters

The Dominican Republic became the third nation this week to announce plans to withdraw its 300 troops from Iraq. Honduras said its 370 soldiers would return from Iraq within two months.

Spain said on Monday it had begun withdrawing its 1400-strong contingent.

US President George Bush said US-led forces in the country remained strong despite the withdrawals.

Canada said one of its citizens had been kidnapped in Iraq - the latest in a spate of hostage-taking this month that has snared foreign civilians from more than a dozen countries.

A Foreign Ministry official in Ottawa said Mohammed Rifat, 41, was being held by an unknown group.

But Italy said it was expecting news soon of three Italian civilians held by guerillas who killed an Italian last week because of Rome's military presence.